Chart Review 28th Feb 2005 with DJ Chris Plant (2/3)

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

Two relatively new names hit the Top 10 next as rapper Akon marks his UK debut with the plaintive Locked Up at Number 5 whilst a place below as Leeds' very own Kaiser Chiefs storm the Top 10 with Oh My God. The single is their second Top 40 hit overall, November's Number 22 single I Predict A Riot clearly being just a taste of things to come. Rising stars of the so-called Britpack, their sound sits quite comfortably alongside the likes of The Killers as part of the new generation of British rock.

Back to Akon for a moment though and he actually helps make this a landmark week for hip-hop, joining Nelly, LL Cool J and Game/50 Cent to give the er, spoken word, a 40% sweep of the Top 10.

The new generation are represented at Number 8 in the shape of the Futureheads who also celebrate far and away their biggest ever hit. Decent Days And Nights gave the group their first Top 40 hit back in August last year but their self-titled debut album now spawns a Top 10 single with the amazingly catchy Hounds Of Love. Their sound actually harks back around 25 years as they sound for the entire world like The Jam reborn, (I defy anyone not to think of Eton Rifles when listening to the single) although I mean that in the nicest possible way.

Yes, Girls Aloud have a Top 5 single this week but if pop is dead then the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs and Futureheads are the perfect soundtrack with which to dance on its grave.

At Number 9 is the ever consistent (read: samey) Usher as the song that has already given him two Number One hits and a further Top 5 single in the last year now calls itself Caught Up. Yes, it is the first time he has had four Top 10 singles in a row but frankly I'm unexcited and under whelmed. A cute oddity sneaks in at a frustrating Number 11 this week. Teeny hip-hop starlet Verbalicious is in real life Natalie Keery-Fisher from Leeds. As an actress she has notched up a number of TV roles (most notably in dire sitcom All About Me) and also appeared in radio soap The Archers as vicars daughter Amy Franks.

It is however as a rapper that she appears set to make the biggest splash, her musical talents coming to fore when she took part in an 8-mile-style MC battle run by BBC 1Xtra. At the age of just 16 she now has a Top 20 single with the bubbly Don't Play Nice that makes up in sheer exuberance what it lacks in coolness. In a way it is a shame not to see the single make the Top 10 but you cannot complain about a Number 11 hit.

As the third rap new entry of the week it is a world away from the slick sound of Nelly but is brash, bold and British and all the better for it.

Sick of hip-hop yet? Tough, there is more to come as the re-invigorated Snoop Dogg scores the follow-up to Drop It Like It's Hot which gave him his first ever Top 10 single back in December. The second single from his R&G album, the single is his third in a row to feature a vocal take from Pharrell Williams, the Neptunes and N.E.R.D. star having also popped up on 2003 single Beautiful.

LL Cool J may be the longest serving rap veteran on the chart this week but Snoop Dogg runs him second, his 11 year career dating back to the g-funk era when all you needed was a few George Clinton samples to make a hit.

Continued ...next page

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